Senec (, ) is a town in the

Bratislava Region The Bratislava Region (, ; (until 1919); ) is one of the Regions of Slovakia, administrative regions of Slovakia. Its capital is Bratislava. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders exist from 1996. It is the smallest of ...

of south-western

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The town is the administrative seat of the

Senec District Senec District (''okres Senec'') is a district in the Bratislava Region of western Slovakia. It was established in 1996. The district is largely a bedroom community for Bratislava and is also known for its recreational possibilities, foremost the ...

and its largest municipality. In 2022 it had a population of over 20,000. The town is a summer tourism and recreation center well known for its summer resort ''Sunny Lakes'' () and its proximity to

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, the capital and largest city of Slovakia.

Etymology

The town's contemporary name comes from a Slavic appellative ''seno'', meaning

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

, as the inhabitants dealt with cattle trade (see also

Senica Senica (; ; ) is a town in Trnava Region, western Slovakia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Záhorie lowland, close to the Little Carpathians. Etymology The name is derived from the word ''seno'' ' hay' with the suffix ''-ica'' us ...

, Senné, Veľký Krtíš District or Senné, Michalovce District). Throughout its history the town name's form changed multiple times, in 1252 being written as ''Zemch'', in 1451 as ''Sencz''. In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, the name ''Wartberg'' was historically used. The name is supposedly derived from a fortified hill upon which the Church of Saint Nicholaus stands to this day.

History

In the 9th century, the territory of Senec became part of the

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

. In the second half of the 15th century, Hungarian king

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

gave Senec privileges and it got the right of organizing a fair around 1480. In the 19th century, it started to develop after the

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

railway which runs through the town had been built. After the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

army disintegrated in November 1918,

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

troops occupied the area, later acknowledged internationally by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

. Between 1938 and 1945 Senec once more became part of

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

's Hungary through the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, whic ...

. In 1945, it was recovered by

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. A number of residents were affected by the

Beneš Decrees The Beneš decrees were a series of laws drafted by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II. They were issued by President Edvard Beneš fr ...

and 630 citizens who collaborated with

's forces during occupation of Senec were forced to leave the town in 1947 to Hungary. This was a part of Czechoslovak-Hungarian post-war treaty regarding exchange of citizens signed by both, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. From 1945 until the

Velvet Divorce The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the self-determined partition of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries of the Czech Republic (also known as Czechia) and Slovakia ...

, it was part of Czechoslovakia. Since then it has been part of Slovakia. The historic Church of Saint Nicholaus is located in the southwestern part of the town.

Geography

Senec is situated in Podunajská nížina, on the boundary line of

Podunajská rovina The Danubian Flat (Slovak language, Slovak and Czech language, Czech: ''Podunajská rovina'', German language, German: ''Donauebene''), also translated as Danubian Plain, is the south-western, flatter, part of the Danubian Lowland in Slovakia. T ...

and Podunajská pahorkatina. The town is 27 km far from the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n boundary (frontier crossing at

Kittsee Kittsee (; , , ) is an Austrian municipality in the District of Neusiedl am See (district), Neusiedl am See, Burgenland. History In the Middle Ages, the settlement was situated in the Kingdom of Hungary, and was probably settled by Pecheneg ...

), and 28 km far from the border with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

(frontier crossing at Rajka).

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(90 km),

(230 km) and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(350 km) are the nearest European capitals. The town is located 25 kilometres north-east from Bratislava, 126 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It has good access to the motorway D1 from Bratislava to

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

, and is situated on the significant 4th Corridor of Trans-European Transport Network Railway route

–

–Balkans/Orient. The town consists of four boroughs (Senec, Svätý Martin, Červený majer and Horný dvor).

Demographics

In 2001 14,673 permanent residents lived in Senec and the population density was 379/km². Accordingly, Senec ranks at the 55th place among 138 Slovak cities and towns. Following the age, 67.5% inhabitants are in the productive age (men 15–59 years old, women 15–54 years old). In 2021 census 77% occupants acknowledged Slovak nationality and 11.4% Hungarian nationality. The

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

dominates with 50.7% within the religious structure. The

Protestant Church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

with 5.9% is the second largest Church. The residents without faith represent 29.7%. In education, technical and secondary schools without the General Certificate of Education dominate with 27.91%. In 2001 graduates represented 11.17% share of Senec residents.

Twin towns – sister cities

Senec is twinned with: * Ialoveni, Moldova *

Kőszeg Kőszeg (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is known for its historical character. History Medieval Period The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas (Eisenburg) go back to the third quart ...

, Hungary * Milovice, Czech Republic *

Mosonmagyaróvár Mosonmagyaróvár (; ; also known by other alternative names) is a town in Győr-Moson-Sopron County in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovak borders and has a population of 32,752 (). Mosonmagyaróvár used ...

, Hungary * Parndorf, Austria *

Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...

, Croatia

Asteroid

Asteroid 20664 Senec was named in honor of the Slovak town. The official naming citation was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on 25 September 2018 ().

References

External links

City official municipal website

Map of Senec
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Slovakia